The Buddy System
by Cadence
Summary: Korra and Bolin have been facing rough times recently. They need a new system.
1. Realism Buddies

Title: The Buddy System  
Rating: G  
Pairing: Korra/Bolin-ish  
Spoilers: Through episode 4  
Notes: Thanks to jin_fenghuang for the beta!

Summary: Korra and Bolin have been facing rough times recently. They need a new system.

* * *

Pabu skittered across Bolin's shoulders, tail curling around his neck as the fire ferret stood on his hind legs. He tugged at Bolin's cheek. Bolin craned his neck under the assault, glaring at his pet as he smoothed his mustache back into place.

"Ouch, Pabu! Watch it," Bolin chided. "You'll take my mustache off and lose your hat!"

That seemed to be Pabu's intent, which was ridiculous. How did _he_ think were they going to make any yuans?

Pabu pulled again, this time at Bolin's hair. His little hands weren't particularly strong, but it was enough that Bolin couldn't really turn his gaze away from where Pabu was directing him. They were nearly right back at the arena. Bolin blinked, taking in the scene in front of the building.

Big, pricy car. Crowd of pro-bending fans. Gigantic fluffy white monster.

"Naga!" Bolin gasped. He rushed forward, squeezing his way through the crowd as much as he could to eye the polar bear-dog. She turned her head, cocking it to the side to examine Pabu. They were buddies, he knew, so he let that go to focus instead on how _Naga_ was in the driver's seat. "How are you driving?"

"Um, she's not," Korra put in.

Bolin stepped to the side, leaning over the backseat of the car to get a good look at her. She looked better than the last time he'd seen her, like she'd actually slept recently.

"Oh, hi, Korra," he said. He brushed at his hair, swiping his hand down his face to surreptitiously tug his mustache off. "So you drove?"

That made even less sense.

"Tenzin dropped me off." Korra gave him a half smile and a shrug. "I thought I should apologize for being a bad teammate."

"What? You a bad teammate? No way, never!"

Okay, so she hadn't been to practice in like a week and hadn't shown up today. And so Mako had already looked up Hasook again, keeping him in reserve just in case. But she was the _Avatar_. She had responsibilities. He got that.

"I brought a lot of goodies," she offered. Bolin's gaze homed in on the basket of stuff in the back. It was familiar.

"Isn't that…?"

She winced, voice cracking awkwardly, as she admitted, "Courtesy of Councilman Tarrlok."

"Good enough for me. You need any help carrying?"

Korra was already vaulting out of the car, leaning over to pick up the huge basket easily.

"Nope."

Naga perked up, ready to follow, and Korra shot her a look. The polar bear-dog stopped mid-jump, coiled muscles relaxing under Korra's commanding expression. Korra scratched between her ears and the polar bear-dog leaned into the touch, reluctantly lying down across the front seats. Bolin had to hand it to her. That was a serious theft deterrent.

"That's a good girl," Korra praised. She hefted the basket against her hip, slanting a look at Bolin. "So where do you want this?"

"Um, upstairs? You've never been to our apartment, have you?"

Korra silently shook her head, so Bolin led the way. He parted the crowd of fans with promises of autographs later and winning smiles that were mostly met with blinking confusion. Oh, but he caught a few. He definitely caught a few. They might have even known who he was.

He led Korra through the back hallways of the arena, up the stairs, and past the training rooms. He could hear the grunts of the other teams in the tournaments, the whoosh of their fire as they practiced. They'd be going up against some pretty stiff competition and the hair of the back of his neck prickled at the thought. He kinda couldn't shake the feeling they were going to get completely pounded. It was going to be so amazing.

It was another flight of stairs before he reached the landing their apartment was on. It was more of a loft than anything. Well. An attic. But it was clean, relatively, and it was theirs. For a certain definition of theirs.

He rapped at the door, easing it open.

"Hey, Mako? You home?"

Bolin pushed the door the rest of the way open, taking in the dead silence of the empty loft. He caught Korra's eye, gesturing her in. She looked disappointed for a moment before straightening, striding right into the middle of the apartment to set the basket down between the twin couches.

"So I guess Mako's out with Asami?" she asked, eyes flicking toward him and then away.

"Could be," he said slowly. He ambled over to the couch, sitting down directly under Korra so he could peer up at her. Pabu took the chance to jump off his shoulder, running off to bask in the afternoon light coming through the windows. After a moment, Bolin added, "Could be that Mako's working a quick shift down at the power plant."

Korra's shoulders slumped.

"Oh." Her blue eyes were shuttered, still not meeting his, as she added, "I'm sorry I couldn't help out with that. You know, the tournament money."

"It's okay. Looks like Mako has it all taken care of!"

Korra blinked, hand on her hip as she cast a skeptical look his way.

"That's why you're in that getup?" Her other hand waggled up and down, taking in his costume. "Because Mako has it all taken care of?"

"Well, he does," Bolin said defensively. He wasn't altogether sure what he was defending, but there had been a definite accusation there and he wanted to assure Korra that she was wrong about it. "I just…"

"So you're just wearing that for fun," Korra concluded.

"No! I just – well, it _is_ fun – but I get sick of letting Mako take care of everything! Sometimes. You know."

Korra sighed, sitting down heavily beside him on the couch. She leaned her elbows on her knees, perching her chin on her knuckles to stare broodily at the gift basket.

"I know," she said.

"And I don't want to sound ungrateful!"

"No, of course not!"

"But sometimes I just feel so…" he gestured futilely at the air, trying to complete the thought.

"So useless," she said quietly, completing the thought. Bolin nodded, flopping backwards on the couch. Useless was right. His eyes scanned over the apartment – cleaned by Mako, paid for by Mako, even furnished by Mako.

Bolin frowned to himself, thoughts backing up a step. Next to him, Korra seemed to be doing much the same. She sat up, eyes wide and apologetic as she turned to him.

"I don't mean you. You're not useless at all. That was me, thinking out-loud … about me!"

"What? Korra, _you're_ not useless!" he said, words overlaying with hers.

She shook her head, frustrated.

"That's just it! I am! I thought coming to Republic City would prove something. I'd finally be stepping up, taking control of my own destiny, doing something big! But all I've done since I got here is make things worse. I'm no closer to airbending than the day I arrived and every time I try to do something about Amon I just make things worse!"

"You joined Tarrlok's squad and arrested all those Equalists," Bolin pointed out. He scooted over on the couch to nudge her shoulder. "_And_ you saved me."

She smiled for a brief, sweet moment.

"I know, but I just feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. Why didn't they prepare me for this?"

Bolin's mind spun at the possibilities. She'd been raised at the South Pole, right? That's what the tabloids said. She'd spent her years guarded and guided by the White Lotus, all but locked up. What could they have been done? Given her a textbook on anti-bender rhetoric and quizzed her on how it would unfold politically? Or taken her on field trips to the city, pointing out Triple Threat Triad hang outs.

"I think they did the best they could," he said sheepishly.

"I know, but…" she trailed off, hands falling limply onto the couch as she failed to gesture. She pouted. "I just want to blame someone else right now."

It sounded pretty appealing. Bolin loved his brother. Mako was a great guy. Okay, a little serious, but that had proven very handy in a number of very tough situations when they were growing up. But at the same time, Bolin felt like he wasn't contributing. Maybe if Mako had sheltered him a little less, held his hand a little less, cleaned up his messes fewer times, then maybe Bolin would know how to do this all by himself.

No, that was a dumb line of thought.

Bolin shook himself, brows knitting together as he focused on the problem.

"Okay, I have a thought and I need you to hear me out," he said. He stared over the gift basket, toward the window. He could just barely make out the statue of Avatar Aang in the distance. "The problem is us. Not because we're useless! Or even because we're irresponsible. But because we're just not realistic."

He pronounced the last word carefully, stretching out the thought in his head.

Korra laid her arm across the back of the couch and pillowed her head against it. She was staring right at his performance vest; he felt the phantom itch of his mustache.

"That's possible. You, for example, thought you could make thirty thousand yuans with a fire ferret trick," she said.

Bolin felt his hackles rise. It was more than just a _trick_! It was a sophisticated act!

Okay, breathe through it. She was right. No matter how awesome the trick was, they just weren't going to make that much money that way.

"And you," he said, "thought you could fix all of Republic City with a duel."

Korra cringed and Bolin immediately felt bad. Was he bringing up a touchy subject? He was totally bringing up a touchy subject.

He was about to apologize when Korra exhaled a long, depth breath.

"You're right. That was really unrealistic."

They paused a beat and then smiled at each other. Bolin felt like he was making progress.

Another beat.

He scratched at his neck.

"Okay, what now?"

"I think we have to come up with more realistic plans," Korra said.

They shared a look. This was seriously going to be hard.

"Maybe we should start smaller," Korra eventually said. Bolin nodded fervently.

"So, okay, how about we just act as a reality check for each other? We could be realism buddies!"

Korra drew he leg up onto the couch, angling toward him.

"You could tell me," she pitched her voice lower, giving it a calming, rhythmic cadence, "'Korra, I just don't think that's advisable.'"

"Ooh, that's good. Is that Councilman Tenzin?" Korra's hair flew as she nodded happily. Bolin tried to match her, going for Mako's flat annoyance as he said, "And you could tell me, 'Bolin, what were you thinking?'"

"Wow, you've got him nailed."

Bolin sketched a bow to her and caught her eye, grinning. She thrust out a hand and he took it. They shook once, firmly.

"Realism buddies," they agreed.

With that, Bolin dug into the basket. He'd been restrained long enough. The cookies seemed edible, the perfume completely mismatched for Korra, and the plum wine just a bit too young to crack open. They quickly agreed the time for the wine was after the tournament and also not when Councilman Tenzin could catch them. Korra stood, wandering over to the radio while he sorted through the goodies. A few turns of the knob and she found what sounded like a pro-bending match. Bolin perked up to listen, quickly recognizing one of the old classics – Space Swords versus Tiger-seals in a semi-final match.

He looked across the apartment to where Korra stood. She was directly in the path of the afternoon sun, right in that same window Pabu slept in. Sometimes she'd move, miming the action from the match, moving just enough to reveal the distant figure of Avatar Aang.

"You should come over more often!" he said, voice buoyant with enthusiasm.

She turned, flashing that half-smile at him.

"I'd like that."


	2. Kissing Buddies

Title: The Buddy System  
Rating: G  
Pairing: Korra/Bolin  
Spoilers: Through episode 4; sure to be jossed by episode 5  
Notes: Thanks to jin_fenghuang for the beta!

Summary: Korra and Bolin have been facing rough times recently. They need a new system.

* * *

Korra was coming apart at the seams. She could feel it in the tremble of her muscles, the heaviness of her eyelids, and that constant buzzing of a sick, sleepless headache behind her every waking moment. There were too many of those lately, too many waking moments. Three raids in four days. Pro-bending practice in the morning, airbending practice in the afternoons, and the first of their tournament matches last night. The Fire Ferrets had pulled out a win, but just barely and no thanks to her.

Toza had just barely opened up the practice room when she arrived. Early morning light poured into the huge room, reflecting off the spots on the stone floor where the pivots and sliding feet of benders had worn it smooth with their leather soles. Korra stared at one of the spots, looking for chips and imperfections. There were none. The arena was calm and safe, warming with the sun and the distant echoes of remembered cheers. She hated mornings, always had, but she could admit there was a kind peace here. She knew how to do this right, at least.

In her sleepy trance, Korra didn't notice Toza sneaking up on her. She startled as he laid his hand on her shoulder, giving her a conciliatory pat and a single, sorry shake of his head.

"Boys aren't up yet," he said. "I'll wake 'em."

She watched him go, eyes bleary. Belatedly, it occurred to her that she really wouldn't wish her presence on either Bolin or Mako at the moment.

"That's really not…" she trailed off. Toza was already gone.

Well, that was a wash. Might as well get practicing.

She was walking circles when Bolin walked into the practice room. She could tell because it was _Bolin_ and there was nothing in life he did quietly or unenthusiastically. His gait rolled with a swagger she couldn't quite keep herself from snickering at on most days and she could virtually hear his grin from across the room.

"Hey, Korra!" he called. "What are you doing up so… "

He came to an abrupt halt, staring at her. Korra fought the urge to turn away, to hide how tired she was. It was an easy fight to win because she just didn't have the energy. Bolin shook himself and crossed the room in two long strides to take her by the shoulders. He peered down into her face.

"Korra! What… I mean, did you even… did something _happen_?"

She smiled weakly at him.

"I'm fine. Just another raid."

The concerned look didn't leave his face. Korra squirmed. What was she supposed to do, _not_ fight Amon? She stepped out of Bolin's grip easily, brushing past him to go find her equipment. She usually left it upstairs with the boys or right here in the practice room. While Tenzin had come around on the whole pro-bending issue, he didn't want her encouraging the kids – meaning Meelo – with any of that _stuff_. Honestly, Korra didn't think there was any way to discourage Meelo, but hey, he was Tenzin's kid, not hers.

She rifled through the closet in the corner, pushing aside sashes and arm guards and all sorts of other stuff she'd never even seen in the matches. Cleats weren't actually allowed, were they? She took her time suiting up, conscious of the willful silence of Bolin behind her. And man, was it willful. When she finally turned, he was sitting on the floor behind her, cheeks literally puffed out with the force of his restrained words.

Korra crossed her arms, refusing to find it cute.

"_What_?"

His face scrunched up and, all in a rush, he said, "I don't think you're being realistic."

So they'd been doing this thing for a while, being reality checks for each other. After practice, mostly, when Mako was gone and they didn't have to bear the weight of his much, much more realistic judgment. Bolin had told her not to be so hard on herself about airbending. She didn't have to get it in a day and, hey, relaxing was all part of airbending anyway. Korra had told him to start thinking about his earthbending skills and where they could get him outside the arena. He could get steady work in construction, or maybe even apply to the Metalbending Academy after the tournament. Good, solid advice, she felt, for each of them.

Except, right now, hearing that word just made Korra twitch. She felt her headache throb as she glared back at Bolin.

"Oh? And what _is_ realistic? Getting Pabu to fight Amon?"

Hurt manifested in Bolin's eyes immediately. It was a harsh thing to say, recalling just how he'd gotten himself captured by Amon, but that was the whole point. Bolin of all people had to realize how dangerous Amon was!

"Well, no… but you could do with some more back up. Maybe the other kind of Fire Ferret! I'm you're teammate, aren't I?"

Korra dropped her arms to her side, backing away from him.

"No, no way! Not after what he almost did to you."

He looked up at her beseechingly.

"Korra, I can help."

"Absolutely not," she said, her voice flattened with anger, stern authority she didn't know she had creeping into it. Maybe Tenzin was having an effect on her after all. She swallowed back against the fear that had gripped her at the memory of Bolin kneeling, Amon ready to steal his earthbending. She added softly, "Maybe you can help some other way. Just… be here?"

Bolin was watching her with those big, stupid green eyes. He bit his lip and, seeming to make a decision, pushed his palms against the floor to stand. He nodded, watery smile flickering at his lips.

For a moment Korra thought he was going to shake on it, but instead he just said, "Okay. I can do that."

Korra let out a long breath. She had a ridiculous number of problems, but at least Bolin wasn't one of them.

"Oh!" Bolin said excitedly. "I've got it! I know how to help!"

He held up his hands, framing his face with his extended index fingers. It was his "I've got a plan" gesture and, okay, Korra was sort of curious. Did he have some sort of really intense, literal earthbending way of _being here_? She could always do with learning a bit more, mastery or no.

"Korra, you've gotta agree not to take this the wrong way."

She squinted at him. That was never a good opening.

"Okay," she said, nonetheless, elongating the syllable.

He moved in close again, hands gone soft as they brushed against her cheeks. Before she could react, before she could laugh at him for acting like a doofus, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. He backed off just as quickly, expression weirdly serious as he waited for her reaction.

Korra listened to her heartbeat through the fuzz of her sleep-deprived brain and very quickly came to a realization. She was pissed off.

"What the hell was that?" she snapped. Her hand curled into a fist as her side. She couldn't decide between blasting him with fire and pummeling him with rocks.

"You promised!" he protested.

"I did not!" she replied heatedly. Except, well, she had. Or maybe she hadn't. "What was the _right_ way to take it?"

"The friendly way."

Korra sputtered.

"How is _kissing me_ friendly?" Actually, no. She didn't want an explanation. She was too angry and too tired to listen to one. Heated tears sprang to the corners of her eyes. She glared up at Bolin through them, accusing him, "You're my only friend. Why would you do this?"

"Hey, no. That's the wrong way. That right there. I kissed you _because_ we're friends. You said you wanted me to be supportive."

And it was Bolin, so he managed to look completely sincere and earnest when he said it. Korra felt herself deflate. She shook her head at him in confusion.

"Is this some weird city thing? Hazing for the new girl?"

"No, no, it's better than that. So, I had an idea. We're already buddies. And I thought, you know what's better than buddies? Kissing buddies."

It did _sound_ better, but Korra really wasn't convinced this was a thing.

"You know there's already a word for that? Two of them. Boyfriend… girlfriend… jump in if you've heard this before."

"But, Korra, you're my only friend!"

This was the problem with earthbenders. They were nice and all, but they made Korra want to scream with frustration.

Bolin seemed to get the picture – particularly that he was very close to being punched with fire – so he rethought his argument. He tried again, "Korra, I really like you. You're funny and smart and the best realism buddy a guy could have. When I see that you're having a rough time, I just want to reach out and fix it. Somehow."

"And that's why you kissed me?" she asked. "That's your idea of helping me?"

He nodded eagerly, happy that she seemed to be getting it. Korra still wasn't sure she did.

"So, it's just us, being buddies," she said slowly. "And sometimes kissing?"

"Yes! Exactly!"

"But when?" she wondered. She eyed him warily. "Now?"

"Eh. Not now. Only when you really feel it."

"How will I know the difference? Or that we're still friends?"

Even Bolin seemed stumped by that one. He cast around, looking all over the practice room like somehow the pipes and paint on the wall would give him answers. His gaze lingered a moment in the upper right corner. Korra turned to look. Maybe there really _was_ an answer there, she thought as she suddenly realized what was located in that direction. Mako and Bolin's apartment. Where Mako apparently was not, since Toza had gone up to wake them both. Korra didn't even want to consider where he'd slept.

The thought of Mako churned up uncomfortable emotions in Korra's stomach: attraction and aggravation, hope and disappointment and confusion she didn't know how to deal with.

She realized that Bolin was looking at her and blushed under his gaze.

"Well, there's that," she mumbled. Her feelings for Mako seemed like pretty definitive proof that she and Bolin were just friends.

"Yeah. Oh, I've got another!" Bolin said. He rocked forward on his heels, grinning. "How many girls do you think I've brought up to the stands?"

Korra remembered her first time to the arena, Toza's accusation that she was one of Bolin's groupies. She shrugged.

"I don't know. A lot?"

Bolin waggled his eyebrows.

"More than you think!"

Korra laughed and punched him in the shoulder. He rolled with it, only wincing a little bit.

"But, you see! That proves my point. We're still just friends, helping each other out."

He grinned and she couldn't help it. She smiled at him, tugging him down into a kiss.


End file.
